Who we are

Board of Trustees

Kate Cook is a barrister at Matrix Chambers. She specialises in environmental law and public international law. Before joining Matrix she worked as a legal adviser to the UK Department of the Environment. She has experience in international environmental negotiations and argued cases in the International Court of Justice.

Richard Dyton is the Pro Bono Partner at Simmons & Simmons. He has been a solicitor for over 20 years and is also a trustee of several other charities.

Silke Goldberg is a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and the chair of LRI since 2017. She is qualified in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland and specialises in, amongst other issues, clean energy projects. She has published on the legal aspects of climate change and European Union energy law.

Anne Miller, is the director of The Creativity Partnership, Cambridge. She has been leading teams developing innovative products for 20 years and registered 39 patents for a diverse range of products. She is the author of “How to get your ideas adopted (and change the world)”.

Matthew Morton is a Counsel at Weil, Gotshal & Manges where his practice focuses primarily on environmental aspects of complex business transactions. He is a US attorney based in Washington.

Seth Osaka is a consultant to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), UNEP and the African Development Bank. He is the legal advisor to the African Group of Negotiators in the UN climate negotiations. Previously, he was the senior legal adviser to the UNFCCC secretariat and Head of the Legal Division of the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for the Future Status of Kosovo.

Joss Saunders is the General Counsel of Oxfam-GB and one of the LRI founding members. He has been a solicitor for over 20 years and previously worked in Uganda and in Eastern Europe.

Niall Watson has been a solicitor in commercial and governmental practice for over 25 years and chaired LRI between September 2009 and January 2012. He used to be WWF-UK’s Legal Advisor.

Advisory Committee

The Board of Trustees is supported by an advisory committee that provides general guidance on the organisation’s strategic direction.

Raj Bavishi is an energy and environment solicitor at Simmons & Simmons since 2007. He holds an LLM in international law and is one of the organisation’s most active expert advisers.

Subhi Barakat is a Canadian lawyer who has previously worked at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He volunteered with LRI for several months in 2011 and 2012, and since then has been attending various climate meetings as a Liaison Officer.

Achala Chandani is a senior researcher in the climate change group at the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) and the legal adviser to the Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group in the UNFCCC negotiations.

Nick Flynn has been a solicitor for 18 years and is involved in several development charities. He chaired the initiative between February 2012 and June 2014 and is now the campaign and legal director at Avaaz.

Saleemul Huq is senior fellow in the climate change group at IIED. He was the lead author of the chapter on Adaptation and Sustainable Development in the 3rd assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and heads the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Dhaka.

Richard Lord QC is a commercial litigator with over 25 years’ experience, particularly of international disputes in the Commercial Court and in arbitration. He has developed a particular interest in the private law aspects of climate change and is one of the editors of Climate Change Liability: Transnational Law and Practice.

Nicola Peart works with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. She passed her Bar examinations in 2013, and holds an LLM in international law. She attended many UNFCCC meetings as Liaison Officer.

Kate Weinberg is a consultant at the international strategy firm Irbaris LLP where she works on sustainability issues for the private and public sectors, focusing on climate change adaptation, water and low-carbon development. Between 2010 and 2011 she was the Executive Officer of the LRI.

Team

Pascale Bird coordinates LRI’s legal advisory service. She is a qualified solicitor who has worked at Simmons & Simmons and previously project managed a climate litigation book.

Steve Brown is a chartered accountant who maintains LRI’s financial records and accounts. He has his own company Accounting Solutions for Charities.

Maria Jose Ortiz Noguera is a Spanish attorney based in Alicante who works with LRI as a consultant to update and review UNEP’s training manual and glossary of legal terms on international environmental law.

Christoph Schwarte is LRI’s Executive Director. Before joining LRI Christoph worked at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD).

Gilbert West is based in Brussels and manages LRI’s website and database.